


Closure

by ElizabethWilde



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 03:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethWilde/pseuds/ElizabethWilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabrielle gets closure after Joxer's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closure

**Author's Note:**

> I don't recall when exactly I originally wrote this, but it was not long after Joxer's on screen death... so... a LONG time ago, folks.

"Hey."

Gabrielle blinked once, stared. //Joxer?// He looked young again, exactly as he had when she first saw him, hideous hat and all. "Is it really you?" Briefly her mind flashed to the Furies' apparition and her brush with insanity.

"Yeah, it's me."

It was. The sheepish, self-conscious smile and warm brown eyes could belong to no one else. Gabrielle stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I miss you, Joxer." And she did. It had been no more than a week since Livia murder Joxer, and she fought the dull ache of missing him every waking moment. Until he was gone, Gabrielle hadn't realized how much her bumbling admirer was part of her life. "I saw Meg yesterday," she said as she pulled back.

Joxer frowned. "She's having trouble. The kids too, especially Virgil. Do you think they'll be okay?"

"They'll be alright," Gabrielle assured him. A blue mist curled around them, twisting around their ankles and blurring their surroundings. "Is this a dream?"

Joxer nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know any other way. I couldn't just be, you know, dead without talking to you. Gabrielle, I-"

"I know, Joxer. You don't-"

"Yes, I do," he insisted with more force than Gabrielle had ever heard. Time had changed him more than she first thought. "I had a wonderful life, Gabrielle. Anybody would be lucky to live like I did. I had wonderful friends," he squeezed her shoulder, "a beautiful wife, amazing kids... I don't regret anything. Not one single thing. Because everything, even all the stupid things that seemed like mistakes, took me where I ended up. And my life was good.

"I need you to believe that, Gabrielle. I don't want you to think that I died too soon, that I missed anything. I didn't. I had everything. And me dying? Part of the plan. It had to happen. It had to happen so that Eve could be herself again and follow her destiny," Joxer said quietly. 

Gabrielle sniffled a little, then wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. //There's no reason to cry.// "What about where you are now?"

"Heaven. You were there." Joxer beamed at her, almost glowing. "You'll be here again, someday. When your soul is finished on Earth. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been. I've seen Eli. He's proud of you, Gabrielle. I am too.

"And... I still love you. I've loved you since I met you, and it never stopped. Shh--you don't need to say anything. Eli was right when he said I shouldn't expect anything from you. I know you love me, in a different way. That's more than enough. It's better than I could hope for." Joxer looked past Gabrielle, as if studying some distant horizon. "Almost out of time. Are you okay?"

The bard-turned-warrior nodded mutely, then smiled a little. "Thank you. I know I never really... I gave you a hard time. Most of the time. I didn't know how to treat you. I'm sorry I never treated you like you deserved. Joxer, you were a hero. Not like Xena. You were always meant for the Way of Love, I think." She paused, then continued, "We all miss you. And love you."

Joxer blushed and grinned. "Yeah, well, I know." A brilliant light grew around them and Joxer held her tight. "Time for you to go, Gabrielle. Take care of them for me, okay?"

Before she could reply, Gabrielle found herself staring up into Xena's eyes. She smiled, feeling more at peace than she had for some time. "Morning."

The Warrior Princess smiled back and stood. "Good dream?"

"Yeah. Good dream."


End file.
